To die to self is an imperative process in the journey of a believer. In this article we explore this concept, by delving into its significance. We know the sin of humanity led Jesus Christ to the cross were he was crucified and died. Thereafter, Jesus also admonishes his followers to “take up your cross daily”, (Luke 9:23) denoting that we need to undergo the same process of being led to crucifixion on the cross.
1. What Does It Mean To Die To Self?
When sin came into the world, it entered through the flesh. Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s command by eating the fruit from the forbidden tree. This act of sin, rooted in the flesh, corrupted their entire being.
Understand that all people have a physical being (the body) and a spiritual being (the spirit), when Adam and Eve sinned, they sinned with their physical nature, and the spirit of God departed from them as God and sin can never dwell together.
To die to self means to crucify the physical nature, which serves as the gateway for sin to enter a person. Every sinful action originates and transpires through the body; thus, to conquer sin, the body must be crucified so that it no longer dictates an individual’s behavior.
2. How Did Jesus Die To Flesh?
Jesus conquered sin by dying in the flesh and his death was not because he was naturally sinful. Rather, humanity’s sin was cast upon him so that through his death we may be all acquitted of sin (Hebrews 9:15).
The activities that occurred during the crucifixion are symbolic on how sin, which entered through the flesh was crucified. These activities highlights the areas of the flesh that need to be crucified so that sin can no longer have power over us.
2.1 The Crown Of Thorns
The crown of thorns over Jesus’ head is symbolic of the destruction of any arguments that occur in the mind. When sin enters through the body, the mind acts as a decision engine that determines what the body must do.
In this scenario, not only the entry way of sin is destroyed, (the body), but the decision engine’s ability to be convinced by what the body hears, sees, feels, touch, or taste.
Eve was convinced by what the serpent said, the convincing happened in the mind. But Jesus’ crown of thorns destroyed all mind’s ability to process fine sounding arguments and lies that the enemy may present to us.
2.2 The Flogging Of His Body
When Adam ate the fruit, the effects of sin became apparent, both Adam and Eve realized they were naked. By eating the fruit, they were satisfying a bodily hunger.
When Jesus was accused, Pilate ordered him to be flogged with a lead-tipped whip (Matthew 27:26). These whips landed on his body, symbolic of destroying all carnal desires. Whatever the body desires, which leads to sin, Jesus body was flogged, symbolic of destroying all desires of the flesh.
2.3 The Load Of Carrying The Cross
Eve picked up the fruit, ate it and satisfied her physical desire. Then she carried the fruit to share with Adam who ate it too.
When Jesus went to the cross, this is symbolic of Eve going to the tree. The tree and the cross represent the trespassing of a boundary. Understand that the cross is like a “No Entry” signpost that serves as a warning that the sin hangs upon it. It also means a boundary has been breached the repercussion is death.
Jesus carried his cross, but along the way, Simon was forced to help (Matthew 27:32). This is symbolic of the fact that sin is indeed a heavy load, not only does it weigh down on the individual but its effects propagate and multiply to others (Romans 5:12).
Hebrews 12:1 encourages us to strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up since we are surrounded by crowd of witnesses to our life of faith.
2.4 The Tasting Of Gall And Sour Wine
When Jesus hung on the cross, he said “I am thirsty” in John 19:28 and was given sour wine. David had foreseen this when he wrote in Psalm 69:21, “But instead, they give me poison (or gall) for food; they offer me sour wine for my thirst”. The poison will would kill the body of its hunger and the sour wine would destroy body of its thirst.
Carnal hunger and thirst was destroyed by the poison and sour wine so that we only hunger and thirst is for spiritual food. In the 4th beatitude, Jesus said those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be filled or satisfied (Matthew 5:6).
Contrastingly, when Eve was tempted, she saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious. However when she ate it, she did receive the satisfaction she was hoping for.
The revelation in this is that all men have an innate hunger and thirst for God. Though the world promises carnal things will satisfy this desire, people are always left disappointed at the results they receive.
Rather, we find that the word of God satisfies our innermost desires, for we do not live by bread alone, but by the word that comes from the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4).
2.5 The Nails On Each Hand
When Eve was convinced of the serpent’s lies, Genesis 3:6 reads, “So she took some of the fruit and ate it. And then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too”.
So Eve shared the fruit with Adam and all men were born of sin, seen propagated and multiplied in all people.
When Jesus’ hands were nailed, it was symbolic of the destruction of sin from propagating, Jesus having holes in his hands represent the destruction of the propagation of sin. The hands that carried the sin (fruit), now have holes and sin can no longer be transferred or propagated any further.
2.6 The Nail On Both Feet
The holes on Jesus feet caused by the nails that pinned him on the cross are symbolic of destroying the the feet or path that leads us to sin and death.
Eve walked to the tree and took some of the fruit. But Jesus through the nails that pierced his feet destroyed the part of the body that would lead us to walk into temptation (Matthew 6:13).
2.7 The Giving Up Of His Spirit
In John 19:30, Jesus bowed his head and gave up his spirit after saying these last words, “It is finished”. The bowing of his head is representative of what happened to Adam and Eve when they sinned, they realized they were naked.
God had warned Adam that if he ate the fruit of the tree, he would definitely die. When he and Eve ate the fruit, the Spirit of God departed from them, signaling a spiritual death, and they became naked and felt shame.
Likewise when the sin of the world was upon Jesus he gave up his spirit, using the above logic, this means that his spirit, which is the Spirit of God, left. It left because Jesus had become sin (2 Corinthians 5:21), and God and sin will never co-exist.
2.8 Bowing The Head
After Jesus gave up his spirit, he bowed his head. Likewise, when Adam and Eve died spiritually, they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. When someone experiences shame at nakedness, they assume a position where the head bows and the entire body is coiled downward to conceal the shame at their nakedness.
Sin, when it entered Adam, brought death that spread to everyone, for everyone sinned (Romans 5:12). This means that everyone is born dead or born without the Spirit of God.
When the Spirit of God is absent, people bow they’re heads in shame. This is demonstrated in babies in the womb. Notice the head is always bowed down, signifying that we are all born without the Spirit of God because when Adam sinned, the Spirit of God departed from him and brought death to all people.
But Jesus bowed his head in sin so that we may lift up our heads to look up to him (Psalm 24:7), for all who look up to the cross will live (Numbers 21:8). We no longer walk in shame with our bodies coiled downward in shame, but walk with boldness and confidence into the presence of God (Ephesians 3:12).
Luke 13:10-11 record a woman who was bent double from an evil spirit. This position shows the enemy had a grip over her life. How would she have praised God with her arms lifted up and hear head looking forward to worship and praise God? This is the spiritual stance that sin causes people to assume – stooping to the ground, unable to work, and unable to look up to the heavens, with hands lifted up, and praise and worship God.
3. How To Die To Self
We die to self through a new spiritual birth. This spiritual birth begins by believing in Jesus Christ the Son of God, and accepting him as Lord and Savior over one’s life.
Thereafter, the Holy Spirit comes upon us, and through prayer and the word, we are able to strengthen the spiritual aspect of our being.
Finally, the Holy Spirit guides our steps, transform our minds and gives, desires that please God and leads us in every facet of our spiritual lives.
In this new spiritual birth, we no longer live in the natural or carnal realm, though we still have a natural body, but we live spiritually and our natural bodies are living sacrifices.
A living sacrifice is an individual who is alive, both physically and spiritually, but their physical nature has no power over them, because it has been crucified with Christ.
4. How To Know If You Have Died To Self
Being led by the Holy Spirit in every facet of our lives is testament to having died to the self (Galatians 5:16). As simple as it sounds, that is how we we have died, and Christ is living in us, directing each and every aspect of our lives through the power of the Holy Spirit.
5. Concluding Remarks
This article sought to discover how to die to self. By providing the parallel events that happened during the fall and the events that occurred during Christ crucifixion, it was established that all the physical or bodily aspects that were involved in the Fall were destroyed.
- The desire for hunger and thirst was destroyed by poison and sour wine. Carnal hunger and thirst was destroyed so that we may desire for God’s holiness and righteousness (Matthew 5:6)
- The ability to share sin (the fruit) was destroyed by piercing the holes that carry the fruit. The feet that walked to the tree, trespassing beyond the boundary set by God were nailed on the cross, bound together in immobility thus destroying the aspect of our carnal nature that leads us to trespassing (Matthew 6:13).
- The head was struck with heavy blows (Matthew 27:30) and placed a crown of thorns (Matthew 27:28), destroying any fine sounding arguments which the mind grapples with. The mind was destroyed enabling us to use spiritual weapons to bring down carnal ideas and plans that are against the will of God (2 Corinthians 10:4).
- The body was flogged with a lead-tipped whipped (Matthew 27:26), destroying all the carnal desires and pursuits that causes our body to sin (Romans 6:13). Our bodies have now become a living and holy sacrifice which we have given to God (Romans 12:1).
Dear reader, every aspect of our physical being that led to The Fall has been destroyed By Jesus. Jesus Christ has won the victory over sin by dying on the cross, allowing the crucifying the body in all its ramifications.
In Galatians 5:20, Paul wrote:
My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who lives but Christ lives in me
The body must be struck with blows to become a slave that does the work of Christ, this, my dear reader, is how to die to self (1 Corinthians 9:27). It encompasses dying to flesh by the crucifixion of the body and living spiritually in Christ whom we live, move and have our being (Acts 17:28).
Add a Comment